The development of teacher autonomy in collaborative lesson preparation: A multiple-case study of EFL teachers in China

•Collaboration takes two forms: the product-oriented, and the problem-based.•Different impacts of two types of collaboration on novice teachers' autonomy.•Teacher autonomy mediated by teacher anxiety.•Joining teacher collaboration and autonomy for synergy.

This paper reports on a 3-year case study of four novice EFL teachers in China that examined the impact of collaborative lesson preparation on the development of their teacher autonomy, and the joint impact of collaboration and autonomy on their professional development. Data analysis of 48 individual interviews, 47 journal entries, and 26 classroom observation sessions has revealed: (1) the collaboration takes two forms: the product-oriented collaboration dedicated to producing a complete, ready-to-use set of teaching resources as a visible product, and the problem-based collaboration featuring discussions on certain teaching issues, which does not provide concrete help in physical forms but inspires insights and facilitates exchange of teaching experience; and (2) the two types of collaborative lesson preparation have different impacts on the development of novice teachers’ autonomy which is mediated by the level of teacher anxiety provoked by the circumstances of collaboration. Suggestions based on the findings are proposed as to joining collaboration and autonomy for synergy to promote teacher development.